John's blog - www.johnvhansen.com - Bates Motel/Psychohttp://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm
John V. Hansen's blogen-usThu, 22 Feb 2018 02:11:16 -0700Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:21:00 -0700BlogCFChttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssno-reply@johnvhansen.comno-reply@johnvhansen.comno-reply@johnvhansen.comJohn's blog - www.johnvhansen.comhttp://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm
noBefore ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho: Sanitarium’ (2016)http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/19/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-Sanitarium-2016
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In this series, I'm looking back at the books and movies of the "Psycho" franchise before its TV revival in "Bates Motel," which will conclude its five-season run this month. (Granted, "Psycho: Sanitarium" came out after "Bates Motel" premiered, but it's part of the book series that preceded it.)
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Although Robert Bloch only wrote three "Psycho" books – in 1959, 1982 and 1990 – there are four books in Bloch's "Psycho" series. As an unexpected surprise for Bloch fans and "Psycho" fans, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25663729-psycho" target="_blank">"Psycho: Sanitarium"</a> came out in May 2016 from the pen of Chet Williamson, the author of 14 previous horror or fantasy novels. Set a year after the events of the first book, when Norman is locked in the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane 20 miles from Fairvale, "Sanitarium" is a masterwork of continuity, as Williamson -- a self-described "disciple of Bloch" -- gives insight into Norman's time in the ward without contradicting anything from the future books. I read it after reading Bloch's trilogy, but a person could also read it right after "Psycho" without spoiling "Psycho II" or "Psycho House."
In the acknowledgements, Williamson notes that the late Bloch created "a whole new genre of fiction." I'm guessing he means the type of mystery where a reader has to account for not only clues, but also the possibility of an unreliable narrator, a trick he pulled on "Psycho" and "Psycho II." I was prepared for this trick, and indeed I sort of figured out the answer – but not precisely.
Similar to "Bates Motel," Norman is portrayed as a sympathetic man who is mentally sick more so than dangerous, and -- following from "Psycho" -- he's 41 years old and pudgy. The reader surrogates are Dr. Felix Reed and Nurse Marie Radcliffe, the only people whom the mostly catatonic Norman will converse with. Like Reed and Marie, we feel sorry for Norman but occasionally remind ourselves, "Wait, he DID murder four people." Norman opens up more when he starts to get visits from his long-lost twin brother Robert Newman, from whom he was separated at birth.
Williamson includes characters from other books such as Sheriff Chambers, highway patrol Captain Ballard and Dr. Steiner – plus one more surprise from "Psycho II." His new characters are starkly drawn, including attendant Myron Gunn, who enjoys brutalizing patients. However, my fears that "Sanitarium" would be a dark slog were unfounded. Yes, most of the novel takes place in the mental hospital, but it's not too gloomy.
Rather, the hospital itself is effectively part of the mystery, because it had been converted from a sanitarium. Williamson makes us privy to journal entries of Adolph Ollinger, a psychiatrist who was pushing Spiritual Repulsion Therapy in the 1910s. Building on the idea that religious iconography can spark the moral center of a person's psyche, Ollinger and his team concoct spiritual visitations via costumed characters and audio. The hope is that these visions will spark a patient into being normal again, and aware of why their actions were wrong. I found this concept ingenious both in terms of plotting and believability: It seems like something from the early days of this science, where physical shocks to the system were also employed to "cure" patients.
We also get an effectively spooky basement, where the old records room is down a secondary hallway where a nurse would be trapped if the killer were to corner her. There's also a smidgen of dark humor as we meet Norman's fellow inmates; in offhand fashion, the author tells us what landed them in the asylum. For example, Wesley Breckenridge was a "quiet little guy who had gone nuts and chopped up his wife one Christmas Eve, then put the pieces back together so that she was sitting on the couch when family company came. ... (He) sat right next to her and held her hand, which wasn't attached to anything else."
"Sanitarium" is crisply written, and the pacing is similar to Bloch's. It's missing a bit of the folksy charm that came naturally to Bloch. Still, "Sanitarium" is certainly set in 1960, and with references to physical file folders, record players and social/legal issues in a time when the Holocaust was still fresh, one can almost imagine it was written in 1960. Specific flashbacks to the Bates Motel and house might've been fun, rather than just the italicized conversations in Norman's head between him and Mother – but at least the ole swamp at the back of the property makes a nice cameo.
Aside from those small qualms, "Sanitarium" is a wonderful addition to the "Psycho" book saga. And if Williamson and his publisher are willing, it doesn't have to be the last. Much of the time before the events of "Psycho" are unchronicled, although because the film ("Psycho IV: The Beginning") and TV ("Bates Motel") sagas already tread this ground, there's not a pressing need to go there. I'd like to see Williamson continue the adventures of "Psycho House's" true-crime author Amy Haines, if he has an idea for how to posthumously tie it into Bates' life.
If this turns out to be the end of the "Psycho" book saga, we can at least be thankful for this unexpected bonus entry.
BooksBates Motel/PsychoWed, 19 Apr 2017 00:21:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/19/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-Sanitarium-2016Before ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho House’ (1990)http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/12/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-House-1990
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//psycho-house.jpg">
In this series, I'm looking back at the books and movies of the "Psycho" franchise before its TV revival in "Bates Motel," which will conclude its five-season run this month.
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Four years before his death at age 77, Robert Bloch concludes his "Psycho" book trilogy with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_House" target="_blank">"Psycho House"</a> (1990); like "Psycho II," it's a meta-commentary on popular culture and it explores the idea that everyone has just a sliver of Norman Bates in them. The character studies of Amy Haines, a Chicago author looking to write a book on the Bates case, and various Fairvale authority figures and residents double as clues. (This time around, the town feels like it's in Missouri rather than Kansas; I'm continually amazed that the internet provides no solid answer to Fairvale's location.) We ask ourselves not only about motives, but also whether the person is capable of being a killer.
"Psycho House" is more traditional than the first two books because it's a straight-up mystery. In the first chapter, a kid – snooping through the rebuilt Bates house, now a tourist attraction – is murdered. From that point forward, everyone is a suspect. In the first book, a reader is "told" Mother is the killer, then surprised when it's Norman. In the second book, we're "told" it's Norman, then surprised again. Respecting readers enough to not try the trick a third time, Bloch gives us no preconceived notions in "Psycho House."
Ultimately, what makes this my favorite of the trilogy is that Bloch is such a confident writer at this point in his career. Although all three books possess a hardboiled charm, the prose really sings here, perhaps because it's a straightforward whodunit. Reflecting on her treatment by Fairvale natives, Amy notes that "She had already been convicted of being female and was suspected of being a writer as well as an out-of-towner to boot." Eating at a country club, the narrator notes that it's "a recreational center for wealthy businessmen who have not yet been indicted." And almost every sentence out of local newspaperman Hank Gibbs' mouth is a cynical one-liner, like: "As the captain of the Titanic said, that's just the tip of the iceberg." (Gibbs is somewhat of an author surrogate. Bloch cheekily labeled his 1993 autobiography "unauthorized," mirroring a Gibbs line.)
The banter between Amy – who tries to approach her research with utmost professionalism – and the cynic Gibbs is a lot of fun, and the reporters' pavement-pounding behavior mostly rings true. Overall, Amy is a pleasurable character to spend time with (most of the book is from her POV). If she had been the main character in more mystery novels, I would've picked them up.
Another new character is Dunstable, a demonologist who theorizes that demonic possession explains psychotic behavior, and traces a chain from Norma Bates through Norman and up to the current events. It's probably not much of a spoiler to say he's mistaken (if the "Psycho" series had moved into "Exorcist" territory, it would've been disappointing for abandoning its own niche), but Dunstable's theories make for a tasty metaphor. Even Dr. Steiner, the straight-laced psychologist introduced in the second book, likens the world at large to one big asylum. With his references to the rise in American street violence in "Psycho II" and the way entrepreneurs and media jackals look to cash in on the Bates-related murders in "Psycho House," it's clear Bloch is cynical about our cynical culture.
The author also has sharp things to say about collectivism – first, the fact that it's not a great philosophy, and second, that many collectivists are hypocrites about their own philosophy. Many of the Fairvale residents resent Amy for her book project, thinking it will exacerbate what they've already experienced. For example, a deputy tells Amy that when he attended school out of town, he was made fun of for being from Fairvale. People believe there is something innate to Fairvalians that made the existence of Norman Bates possible. (Amy counters with the argument that her honest account will clear up misconceptions, but even she admits she'd love the fame of a hit book, and she toys with putting the juicy demonology stuff in there, even though she knows it's bunk.)
Once Amy gets national news exposure, the townies warm up to her because she's famous. The sheriff's secretary, hostile to Amy throughout the story, now smiles at her. That's Bloch's ultimate statement in the "Psycho" books: While society may not produce many serial killers, it does produce lots of hypocritical collectivists, always eager to find a popular collective to join, even if it means jumping from "I hate the visiting author" to "I love the visiting author" as if that was their point of view all along. In fact, those people might even be in the majority.
And that's my biggest surprise from reading this trilogy: While 1959's "Psycho" is what I expected from my knowledge of the Hitchcock film, I was surprised that the sequels are not about Norman Bates; rather, the Bates case serves as a springboard for exploring human psychosis. I did not mind this surprise one bit; indeed, I love Bloch's writing on these issues, and enjoyed each book more than the last. No, you won't get much insight into Norman himself in these sequels, but the movies, TV show and one other book in the Bloch narrative (Chet Williamson's "Psycho Sanitarium," set between "Psycho" and "Psycho II") provide that. If nothing else, because Bloch created Norman Bates, we should respect the fact that the saga inspired him to explore a different path than the filmmakers and TV showrunners.
BooksBates Motel/PsychoWed, 12 Apr 2017 17:38:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/12/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-House-1990Before ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho II’ novel (1982)http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/10/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-II-novel-1982
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In this series, I'm looking back at the books and movies of the "Psycho" franchise before its TV revival in "Bates Motel," which will conclude its five-season run this month.
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More than two decades after 1959's "Psycho," Robert Bloch returned to the Norman Bates saga with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_II_(novel)" target="_blank">"Psycho II"</a> (1982), which has more in common with Wes Craven's "Scream" films – in a good way – than with the film version of "Psycho II" (1983). While some books slap "Now a major motion picture" on their cover despite not particularly resembling the film ("The Lost World: Jurassic Park" comes to mind), reprints of "Psycho II" did not. While the film of the same name came about because of the book's release, the stories are distinct.
Both before its time and stuck in its time, "Psycho II" is a fascinating read as Bloch becomes fascinated with several controversial ideas: that there's a little bit of Norman Bates in all of us, that the rise in violence in the early 1980s is related to the success of splatter films of that era, and that Hollywood is a place where people with violent and psychotic tendencies can find careers.
I wouldn't go so far as to call Bloch's novel scathing, but nor is it a satire like the "Scream" films. The idea that the "Psycho II" filmmakers rejected the book because it criticized Hollywood is rather amusing considering how tame it is by today's standards. Before learning that tidbit, I would've assumed the limited screentime for Norman Bates was the reason for going in a different direction.
As with the first book, "Psycho II" is a sober character analysis – but of many more characters this time, starting with Dr. Claiborne, who feels guilty for letting Norman escape the Midwestern asylum (again, Fairvale and the surrounding area seem to be in Kansas, but Bloch doesn't explicitly say so). On the Hollywood set of "Crazy Lady," a film based on the Bates Motel murders of 23 years prior, we meet stars Paul and Jan, who will play Norman and Mary; writer Ames; director Vizzini; and producer Driscoll.
Similar to the first book, it's a mystery where the reader only gradually realizes it's a mystery, and a character study of one particular character without the reader realizing the importance of what we learn until the final reveal.
The early '80s were the peak years for violent crime in U.S. history -- something that was also explored in the 1982-set L.A. serial-killer TV show "Wicked City" (2015) – and it's clear that this fact was on Bloch's mind, and that he had no inkling that the trend would dissipate. Today, when many more studies about the nature of violence have been done, Bloch's theory that people became more violent in that era because of entertainment (specifically splatter films) seems a bit narrow-minded.
However, I'll let him get away with it for a few reasons: 1, he's illustrating the thinking of the time, as he also does with references to closeted Hollywood homosexuals; 2, while the "people mimic what they see" theory has been mostly discounted, we can't say without a doubt what caused the spike in crime; and 3, this isn't a cynical novel.
By contrast, "Scream 2" (1997), which introduces the in-universe "Stab" franchise, and "Scream 3" (2000), which takes place on the set of "Stab 2," are cynical films. As good as they may be, those films' commentaries about Hollywood are winks at an audience that already knows about Hollywood shenanigans. But in his 1982 novel, Bloch seems to be letting readers in on the secrets of Tinseltown, right down to the idea that even Jan – although representing a "pure" actress as opposed to her roommate, a porn actress – has had sex with key people to advance her career. And the characters themselves are well aware of the town's fake veneer: As Jan observes Driscoll's office in Chapter 13, she thinks "the décor wasn't contemporary – just a temporary con."
Although one could argue that his career was boosted by the cinematic success of "Psycho," Bloch shows no hypocrisy. "Psycho II" isn't a particularly blood-soaked novel. Despite featuring more than enough brutal killings to place this firmly in the horror category, the author doesn't dwell in the grisliness.
(I should digress here and admit that saying the "Psycho" books are "less" violent than an average horror movie of the 1960s, '70s or early '80s is subjective. It comes partly from the reality that it's easier to escape violence in a novel than in a visual medium, because you can effectively self-censor your imagination. Of course, one could argue that the "Psycho" novel's Shower Scene is "more" violent than the movie version – if one sets aside the insane notion that cold-blooded murder can be different degrees of violent. Norman cuts off Mary's head, rather than merely stabbing her. Indeed, the books' killers tend to favor cutting off heads, although there is a variety of murder methods. But ultimately, I'd argue that – considering they are all about violence – the "Psycho" books and films don't celebrate violence, and that's why Bloch can get away with the premise of "Psycho II" without being hypocritical. The "Scream" films are hypocritical in that they celebrate violence, but they arguably get away with it by openly admitting their hypocrisy.)
There is a huge chunk in the middle of the book where – despite the tension caused by the fear that Norman Bates may be lurking about the area – no one is actually killed or even harmed. There's more talk about violence than actual violence, as in Chapter 24 when Vizzini show off the prop room's weapons collection to Claiborne: "These weapons here – they are a history of mankind." When Claiborne objects that war is different from non-war violence, Vizzini speaks of the "the looting, the tortures and the killings" that happened in Sicily after World War II had officially swept through. On this point, Bloch is spot on: To categorize governments' legal (or quasi-legal, as we see today) war violence as a distinct, allowable form of violence is nothing more than semantics or willful ignorance.
Additional tension comes from details such as Claiborne navigating L.A. traffic, but Bloch spends most of his time letting us in on what makes these characters tick. I was particularly struck by the notion that Claiborne, after decades as Norman's psychologist, had come to see him as a friend in need, rather than as a patient, let alone a killer. While Bloch doesn't come off as cynical, Claiborne arguably does, as he intends to write a career-making book about how he cured Bates, yet as "Crazy Lady's" technical advisor, he sides with those who think production should be halted. It's another meta touch decades before the word "meta" was invented, and it gives "Psycho II" a contemporary quality despite all the tasty 1982 trappings.
As good as this novel is, the marketers seemed as uncomfortable with it as the "Psycho II" moviemakers. While the words on the book's cover don't try to trick anyone into thinking the movie's plot is found inside (aside from the confusing fact that they have the same title), several of the cover artworks do feature the Bates house, even though none of the action takes place there. Indeed, Bloch tells us the motel burned down sometime after Norman's incarceration.
Bloch's "Psycho II" isn't where you would go to find a ton of insight into Norman. You do get some in the early chapters, as the author digs more into the sexual aspects of his dysfunction. But that's not really a criticism as, from the beginning, Bloch was interested in psychosis in humans, not necessarily in one man, and this theme plays quite well in book form. In a visual medium, people get attached to one character, whether it's Norman Bates or Jack Bauer. As such, the book series chronicles Psycho No. 2 while the film series goes with a second chapter of Psycho No. 1. While the competing "Psycho IIs" were no doubt mind-bending at the time, decades later it's fun to follow alternate paths.
BooksBates Motel/PsychoMon, 10 Apr 2017 20:52:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/10/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-II-novel-1982Before ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho’ novel (1959)http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/8/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-novel-1959
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Welcome to a new series where I look back at the books and movies of the "Psycho" franchise before its revival in "Bates Motel," one of the best TV shows of the decade, which will conclude its five-season run this month.
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Let's start at the beginning with Robert Bloch's novel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(novel)" target="_blank">"Psycho"</a> (1959). At 125 pages, it can be breezed through in a few sittings. Although it was popular enough to come to the attention of Alfred Hitchcock, whose movie adaptation came out a mere year later, it apparently wasn't so popular that it spoiled the famous twists.
Bloch's "Psycho" is a character study of Norman Bates; a dime-store novel crash course in psychopathy, split personalities and transvestites; and also much more of a mystery than the film or TV incarnations. Since it's not a visual medium, a 1959 reader would naturally assume that Norman is truly talking to Mother (not named Norma until late in the book). Then when it's revealed in the final pages that she is a taxidermied corpse, a reader would go back and see subtle hints. I bet Bloch fooled most readers.
Bates is superficially different from later portrayals – he's 40 and fat, and he drinks hard liquor when he gets upset. He is also his own psychologist in a way: Being a voracious reader (he loves to escape into the world of books, including those about personality disorders), he has a good grasp of how his overbearing Mother has warped him. Or rather, one of his three identities has a good grasp of that. As a psychologist reveals in the epilogue, he is split into Norman, Norma and "Normal." In a portrayal also seen in "Bates Motel," the third one is aware enough of the other two personalities to act normal in front of other people.
Norman Bates comes from Bloch's imagination, but the author does throw in a reference to "the (Ed) Gein affair up north" (p. 118), perhaps anticipating that critics would make the comparison. (One of the things I'm looking forward to in "Bates Motel" is seeing if Chick, who has been taking notes on Norman's behavior, writes a novel called "Psycho.")
Hitchcock's famous trick of having Marion Crane (Mary Crane in the book) seem like the main character until she's killed at the end of the first act isn't found in the book. The first chapter starts with Norman. Ultimately, Norman shares main-character status with two interested parties who are looking for Mary: Her sister, Lila, and her boyfriend, Sam Loomis.
As in all incarnations, Mary steals the money ($40,000 in hundred- and thousand-dollar bills here) from her boss on a crazy whim and drives many hours to meet her boyfriend. In the film, Sam is hesitant to move on after his separation; in the TV show, he's an outright womanizer. In Bloch's telling, like a hero from one of Philip K. Dick's non-sci-fi novels of the era, Sam is an unabashed good guy who runs a hardware store, determined to pay off the debt racked up by his dad and run an above-board business. He accidentally kisses Lila when he first sees her – mistaking her for Mary – but everything's chaste after that. Somewhat helped by a private investigator and the Fairvale sheriff, Sam and Lila are ultimately the main investigators of Bates, because they have the personal stake of looking for Mary.
Considering the iconography of the Bates Motel and the house on the hill above it, it's interesting to note a couple things. First, the layout of the grounds: Bloch has a road running between the two buildings, then curving behind the house. A swamp at the back of the property is where Norman dumps the bodies and cars (The lake is farther down the highway in the TV show). And the house seems to be on a slight rise, not towering above the motel. Bloch colloquially uses the term "up" for all directions (Norman goes "up" to the house, but also "up" to the motel). But the film's portrayal obviously won the day, as the house-and-motel image is featured on the cover of the 1993 "Three Complete Novels" collection; unavoidably, this is what I saw in my mind's eye.
The inside of the house seems familiar, though, as Bloch illustrates that the décor hasn't been updated in a half-century. As such, it has turn-of-the-20th-century stylings. The P.I. notes that there's not even a TV in the house, placing Bloch's book amid the affordable-TV boom. This concept was continued (but moved forward in time) in "Bates Motel," with the house looking like it's stuck in the mid-20th century; Norma gets a flatscreen TV at one point, irritating Norman.
The second oddity about the Bates property: It's bizarre that this iconic location isn't definitively set in a certain place. From context clues, I place the book's Fairvale in south-central Kansas, but "Kansas" doesn't appear anywhere in the text. I had thought it was in Oklahoma through most of my read, until Bloch makes reference to Oklahoma being south of Fairvale. Hitchcock moved the house and motel to California, and the TV show moved it to Oregon and renamed the town White Pine Bay. Mary/Marion drives up from Texas in the book, up from Arizona in the film and down from Seattle in the TV show.
The book's epilogue is a bit odd, as Sam breathlessly recounts to Lila what he learned from the psychologist. Becoming Bloch's surrogate, Sam's fascination with Norman's addled mind has trumped the fact that his girlfriend was killed in horrific fashion. After hearing the tale, Lila notes: "And right now, I can't even hate Bates for what he did." That rings a bit false to me.
Still, it's understandable that this was a fascinating read in 1959, as many of the concepts were fresh. (On page 120, Sam asks Lila, "You know what a transvestite is, don't you?" That's a line that wouldn't appear in a modern book for multiple reasons.) It's structurally savvy, too, as Bloch will reveal something, such as the investigator's POV of his conversation with Bates, then take a step back in the next chapter, where we get Norman's perspective of the conversation. This staggered momentum creates tension.
Additionally, he parses out information on Bates lushly but sparingly, leading to the final clincher where he totally embraces the Mother persona -- just as Norman believes Mother is the murderer, Mother believes Norman is.
Fans of "Bates Motel" might be curious what Bloch devised for Norman's formative years. In the book, Norman lethally poisons his mom and her lover, Joe Consadine, 20 years in the past. (In the book, Joe and Norma built the motel, rather than purchasing it, as per "Bates.") In the TV show, he gasses Norma and her husband, Sheriff Romero. In "Bates Motel," Norman is responsible for several murders, starting with that of his father, who is barely mentioned in the book as a man who split up with Norma long ago.
In Bloch's novel, a reader might assume that Mary is Norman's first victim since his mom and Joe Consadine. However, it's not explicitly stated, and the author leaves the door open for more wrongdoings in the past. On page 118, the media "tried their damnedest to make out that Norman Bates had been murdering motel visitors for years. They called for a complete investigation of every missing person case in the entire area for the past two decades, and urged the entire swamp be drained to see if it would yield more bodies. But then, of course, the newspaper writers didn't have to foot the bill for such a project."
Just as Bloch's "newspaper writers" were fascinated by Bates' backstory, so were TV writers a half-century later, leading to "Bates Motel."
BooksBates Motel/PsychoSat, 08 Apr 2017 11:47:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/4/8/Before-Bates-Motel-Psycho-novel-1959As ‘Bates Motel’ moves into ‘Psycho’ territory, it does its own thing – which is coolhttp://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/3/28/As-Bates-Motel-moves-into-Psycho-territory-it-does-its-own-thing--which-is-cool
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The <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2188671/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_10" target="_blank">"Bates Motel"</a> (10 p.m. Eastern Mondays, A&E) narrative has steamrolled its way into the plot of the 1960 movie "Psycho," its source material, the past couple weeks. I was looking forward to seeing those classic scenes play out, particularly the famous "shower scene," here starring Rhianna as Marion Crane. Then we got a twist: Norman (Freddie Highmore) doesn't kill Marion; she emerges from the shower unscathed. Later, we do get the shower scene, but Norman's victim is Sam Loomis (Austin Nichols, who – in the strangest bit of typecasting ever -- also got stabbed to death on "The Walking Dead").
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Just a cheap trick by the writers? That thought entered my mind, but the more I think about it, I appreciate that "Bates Motel" isn't doing a remake of "Psycho." Plus, I now realize it was never doing a remake of the "Psycho" films; it was always a reboot. After all, the film series gave its own version of Norman's backstory in "Pyscho IV: The Beginning" (1990). From its first episode, "Bates Motel" has not followed that backstory. Indeed, other than Norma (Vera Farmiga) and Norman, none of the characters were shared between the sagas until the recent introduction of "Psycho" characters Marion and Sam, plus ancillary players such as Marion's boss, from whom she steals the suitcase of cash.
I had originally thought this fifth and final season of "Bates" would tell the "Psycho" story, only with fill-in-the-gaps elements owing to the fact that Norman is the main character here (in the film, it's Marion, at least for the first act) and that there are many more supporting characters such as Emma (Olivia Cooke), Dylan (Max Thieriot), Sheriff Romero (Nestor Carbonell), Madeline Loomis (Isabelle McNally), Sheriff Greene (Brooke Smith) and Chick (Ryan Hurst).
But after Monday's episode, "Marion" (four more eps remain), we now know "Bates" is doing its own thing – and it's a good thing that it's an open playing field.
At the same time, the homages to "Psycho" are a lot of fun. In addition to doing a shot-for-shot restaging of the shower scene that would make Gus Van Sant proud (split between the Marion fake-out and the actual murder of Sam), Marion's scenes leading up to her Bates Motel visit are nods to the film – notably when she is stopped by a highway patrolman in the March 20 episode "Dreams Die First." Here, she is pulled over because her coat is hanging out of her trunk and covering her license plate; in the film, she had pulled over because she was tired, and the patrolman questions her. But both scenes show Marion's nervousness (Will the officer find the stolen cash?), and both linger on the blank, sunglasses-shrouded expression of the patrolman. Later, as Marion is driving toward the motel, "Bates" composer Chris Bacon mimics the tense, jerky strains of Bernard Herrmann.
These homages set us up to believe we are watching a faithful remake of Marion's arc, which will end with the shower murder. Then we're surprised when the events play out slightly differently. But "Bates" has been too good of a show for too long for me to dismiss this as a gimmick, especially when I consider that there are two types of audiences for the show.
It's easy to assume that every viewer is expecting the "Pyscho" plot. However, there is a sizable second type of audience: young, Netflix-era binge-watchers who have never seen "Psycho," and for whom everything about the "Bates" plot is fresh. For these viewers, the movie connections are not a hook, so there's no need for the writers to treat the plot as Scripture.
Hitchcock's classic is certainly not a lost gem; it's very much a centerpiece of the American horror canon. Still, there is a glut of great TV and film out there, more accessible than ever, so the idea that everyone has seen every classic doesn't apply anymore; there aren't enough hours in the day (plus, "Psycho" is not on Netflix). And as time goes by, there will be even more people whose first exposure to the Norman Bates franchise is "Bates Motel," not "Psycho." They might watch the film AFTER "Bates," and enjoy the twist of Marion being murdered rather than Sam.
I suspect these last four episodes will be an epic conclusion, whereas "Psycho" was a comparatively quiet murder mystery with one victim, Marion. While Marion escapes here, the lake near White Pine Bay is filled with corpses of Norman's victims. I expect the writers of "Bates" to deliver a blockbuster batch of final episodes with – while carefully avoiding self-parody, of course – lots of horror elements that go beyond what we've seen so far. I expect Norman to kill almost all the remaining major characters, with creative stagings and reveals. Perhaps Dylan comes upon Norman doing taxidermy on Emma's corpse.
One thing about the films that I thought was a missed opportunity was all those underused motel rooms. In "Bates," I'd like a scene where Sheriff Greene gets a search warrant for all 10 rooms, and each room features a staged scene. Perhaps the stuffed corpses of Emma and Dylan are in one room, Madeline and Sam in another, Sheriff Romero in another. (After all, Norman can't stash the bodies in the lake if Greene is dredging it.)
Maybe, upon discovering the grisly tableaus, Greene turns around with a shocked look and Norman says "I told you we were fully booked," pulls out a knife and grins wickedly. This is a wilder theory, but maybe Norman's girlfriend Cody (Paloma Kwiatkowski) – last seen in Season 2 -- didn't move to Indiana after all; maybe Norman killed and stuffed her, too.
I think Chick is the most likely to survive, as he has forged a bond with Norman. An epilogue of Chick doing a book signing for his new novel, "Psycho," would be a fun way to put a bow on the series. (Of course, the timeline doesn't work, as Robert Bloch's "Psycho" came out in 1959, and "Bates Motel" is set in modern time. Additionally, while Bloch was loosely inspired by the Ed Gein murders, he did not know the man; the book's events came wholly from his imagination. Still, Chick writing "Psycho" would be a winking way to say that the book and film are an adaptation of the "real" events seen in the TV show.)
These theories are probably off the mark, but my sparked imagination goes to show that by diverting from the "Psycho" plot, "Bates Motel" has become more vibrant. At the same time, the writers are showing appropriate respect for the source material. If Norman doesn't do some variation on "She wouldn't even harm a fly," I'd be a bit disappointed.
Bates Motel/PsychoTelevisionTue, 28 Mar 2017 15:33:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2017/3/28/As-Bates-Motel-moves-into-Psycho-territory-it-does-its-own-thing--which-is-coolThe golden age of TV prequels: ‘Bates Motel,’ ‘Gotham’ and ‘Fear the Walking Dead’http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2016/5/4/The-golden-age-of-TV-prequels-Gotham-Bates-Motel-and-Fear-the-Walking-Dead
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//bates-motel-norman1.jpg">
At first blush, prequels should be a boring form of storytelling, because we already know the end point. Of course, there are many examples that prove out-of-sequence storytelling can work – the "Star Wars" prequels and "Smallville" have plenty of fans, for example. But three current series – A&E's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2188671/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">"Bates Motel,"</a> Fox's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3749900/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">"Gotham"</a> and AMC's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3743822/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">"Fear the Walking Dead"</a> -- have turned the prequel into an art form, garnering extra drama from the fact that the audience knows where the story is going.
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The unspoken undercurrent of "Bates Motel" is that when we get to the narrative of the "Psycho" movie, Norman Bates and his deceased and taxidermied mother are the only "Bates Motel" characters remaining in the narrative. Dylan, Emma and Sheriff Romero – none of whom are in any of the "Psycho" movies -- are far too significant to simply be absent during the time when Norma dies and Norman preserves her corpse and begins managing the motel solo.
That gives extra spice to scenes such as the one in Monday's episode when Emma and Norman agree that nothing will ever come between their friendship. I suspect that the fact that Norman killed Emma's mom might come between their friendship, and it will put further strain on Dylan's awkward position as someone who cares about both his brother and his girlfriend.
Romero, in addition to being Norma's husband and Norman's stepfather (much to Norman's anger), also possesses a lot of casefiles and institutional knowledge about Norman's mental problems from his job as sheriff.
For the "Psycho" story to happen more or less as it does in the 1960 movie (and the 1998 shot-for-shot remake), these three major characters have to be out of the picture. It could mean they move away, as Norman's girlfriend Cody moved to Indiana a couple years ago and Norma's brother Caleb moved to Central America. Dylan and Emma are currently planning to move from White Pine Bay, Ore., to Seattle.
Or it could mean Norman kills them all. Judging by the escalating narrative, I'm betting on the latter.
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//gotham-bruce-wayne1.jpg">
"Gotham" operates with less subtlety, but I've still been impressed with the writers' balancing act. Bruce Wayne is morphing into the boy-who-will-be-Batman. He picks up some street smarts from Selina, some fighting skills and tips from Alfred, and most recently he seems intrigued by Azrael's ability to slink away from the authorities by climbing buildings in the smoke-laced Gotham night.
At the same time, we get the origin stories of all the classic villains without Bruce meeting them. To be consistent with Batman lore, he can't meet them until he becomes Batman. However, Detective Gordon can, so we're allowed some juicy Penguin, Riddler and Mr. Freeze tales. Meanwhile, Bruce's on-again-off-again friendship with Selina is being established, and (Poison) Ivy is also a contemporary of theirs.
As viewers, we know the beats of the Batman and Gotham City arc, but we've never before gotten to immerse ourselves in it to the degree "Gotham" allows.
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//fear-the-walking-dead-chris.jpg">
"Fear the Walking Dead" is the strangest prequel of this trio, because whereas "Bates Motel" and "Gotham" are structured on the idea of an end point, this show is not. It may not link up with "The Walking Dead" at all; it might merely be a companion piece showing post-apocalyptic character studies on the West Coast to go along with those from the Southeast.
Aside from the fact that they're set in the same narrative universe, there have been no links to "The Walking Dead" so far. If "Fear" doesn't link up, though, that would be a missed opportunity. Popular theories so far are that Madison Clark is the sister of Rick Grimes (they both have Southern accents) or the sister of Andrea (the actresses have similar styles).
Until "Fear's" group heads East or the parent show's group heads West, we're getting ahead of ourselves by making predictions. But I'll throw out one possibility. "The Walking Dead" currently shows a murderous and popular dictator named Negan, raising the question of how someone like that could gain followers. Meanwhile, we're seeing "Fear's" good-hearted but angry young man Chris get comfortable killing walkers (or "infected," as it were) and severely injured people who can't be saved. No doubt, he's working his way up to killing humans. Perhaps he's on a trajectory toward being a Savior in five years.
"Fear the Walking Dead" has more freedom than the other two shows because "The Walking Dead" is still ongoing; it's not set in stone like "Psycho" and the Batman tale are.
On the other hand, "Bates Motel" and "Gotham" – which are arguably "premakes" rather than "prequels" -- could build some freedom into their narratives if they choose to. "Bates Motel," after all, is not linking directly to "Psycho," as the TV show is set during the present day and the movie was set in 1960. "Gotham," likewise, is not linking directly to 1990's "Batman" or 2005's "Batman Begins" or this year's "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." The general beats will be in place, but there is room for tweaks.
In the case of all three shows, the fact that they are prequels is not in itself enough to make them compelling, but the "How will it link up?" question definitely adds an extra layer of intrigue. (Further adding grist to the argument that this is a golden age for TV prequels is that Disney XD's <a href=" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2930604/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">"Star Wars: Rebels"</a> recently wrapped up a Season 2 that was loads better than its first season. "Rebels" has featured a bit of backstory for film characters Tarkin, Darth Vader and Princess Leia, although the series' main characters are not in the films. Because "Star Wars" has always told stories out of sequence, the prequel aspect of "Rebels" seems less remarkable than it does for these other franchises, even though it certainly is a prequel to "Episode IV.")
What are your predictions for how "Bates Motel," "Gotham" and "Fear the Walking Dead" will connect with established lore?
Bates Motel/PsychoTelevisionWalking Dead, TheBatmanWed, 04 May 2016 00:01:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2016/5/4/The-golden-age-of-TV-prequels-Gotham-Bates-Motel-and-Fear-the-Walking-DeadFor current popular TV shows, what’s the end game?http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2015/4/28/For-current-popular-TV-shows-whats-the-end-game
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//gotham-gordon-bruce.jpg">
By their very nature, some shows have end games and some don't. A show about families and relationships, like "Parenthood," simply looks for a grace note (and it found a good one in its series finale in January); it's not as if it can end with everyone's life in a state of perpetual perfection. At the other end of the spectrum, a murder mystery like last fall's "Gracepoint" has a strictly defined finish line: "Who killed Danny Solano?"
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Some shows don't get end games because they are canceled, in which case the best we can hope for is a grace note, like the famous final scene of "Angel" that fades to black right before a big fight. Some popular shows are granted a hyped-up finale but fail to stick the landing: "Dawson's Creek" very clearly should have featured soul mates Dawson and Joey walking hand-in-hand into the sunset, but Kevin Williamson overthought it and went for a more realistic but less satisfying ending of Pacey and Joey being a couple.
A show shouldn't only be defined by how it ends. A journey can be enjoyable even without a satisfying conclusion; for example, because it was canceled, "American Dreams" ended on an unsatisfying cliffhanger of Meg running away from home, but that doesn't mean I regret watching it. Still, "What's the end game?" is a question that hangs over every popular show, and a sense that the writers know where the story is going is important to many viewers.
Here's a look at six current series and some guesses what their end games might be:
<a href="http://www.tv.com/shows/the-walking-dead/" target="_blank">"The Walking Dead"</a> – Radio transmissions have told us there is some sort of organized societal structure out there. But mainly, the show is about Rick's group surviving day to day, and trying to establish a stable community -- and failing, and then trying again. The end game could be that a cure to the zombie plague is discovered and smoothly administered, but that seems too Pollyanna-ish for this grim series about how survival situations change people for better or worse. I think a happy ending means Rick's group settles into a safe community with zombie-proof walls and begins to rediscover normalcy. Just setting up a nice clean lab where a scientist can study walker corpses would be satisfying.
<a href="http://www.tv.com/shows/the-last-man-on-earth/" target="_blank">"The Last Man on Earth"</a> – This is a tricky one, because so far it's a one-joke show about the increasingly extreme bad breaks suffered by Will Forte's character as he meets more and more virus survivors in Tucson. In fact, he even had to change his name to Tandy when another Phil Miller came to town. If the show was about Tandy learning to roll with the punches, it would cease to be a comedy, or it would need to become a new type of comedy. I suspect "LMOE" will continue on its current path. The end game could be a statement about how society has grown back into the exact same mess it was before the virus, with Tandy continuing to be the Everyman helpless to stop it.
<a href="http://www.tv.com/shows/gotham/" target="_blank">"Gotham"</a> (pictured above) – This "Batman" prequel/reboot needs to be on the air for about a decade to meet up with the traditional age where Bruce Wayne – currently in his early teens -- becomes Batman, and that's a lot to ask of Fox, which hasn't let a genre show run that long, well, ever. (The closest is "The X-Files," at nine seasons.) Detective Jim Gordon becoming the police commissioner should probably be a long process, too, considering that he's currently 30-something and Commissioner Gordon has always been portrayed as much older. So most likely "Gotham" will have to settle for a grace-note ending after five seasons or so. But if the show were to get a full run, the end game should be Gordon becoming commissioner and Bruce becoming Batman, giving the viewer a strong sense that this united front will now make serious progress in cleaning up Gotham. If by some chance "Gotham" is still going strong after that, it could perhaps delve into actual Batman stories with some later-arriving rogues such as Mr. Freeze, if the rogues gallery hasn't been tapped out by that point.
<a href="http://www.tv.com/shows/bates-motel/" target="_blank">"Bates Motel"</a> – This "Psycho" prequel/reboot isn't likely to link up with the iconic events of the Hitchcock movie, simply because Norman is currently a high school senior and it would have to be on the air for another 15 or 20 years to do so. However, I think "Bates Motel" could end a few years down the road with Norman – firmly entrenched in his schizophrenic state -- killing his mother, preserving her corpse with his taxidermy skills, and then going about his business running the motel. In the meantime, supporting players like Dylan, Emma, Caleb and the sheriff would have to be removed from the picture to explain how Norman's crime could go unnoticed for another decade or so before the "Psycho" story. Another possibility is that "Bates Motel" could move the events of Hitchcock's classic further up on the timeline; after all, this is a prequel only in a psychological sense, not in a strict narrative sense, as it is set in a different time and place than the films.
<a href="http://www.tv.com/shows/the-returned/" target="_blank">"The Returned"</a> – This one is simple: It has to answer how and why some people have returned from the dead in a small Washington town. The "how" can be supernatural or spiritual or mystical, but the "why" needs to be rooted in something tangible, such as a specific type of unfinished business that each of "the returned" has.
<a href="http://www.tv.com/shows/izombie/" target="_blank">"iZombie"</a> – Liv is adjusting to the new normal of being a zombie (which in this mythology means she can live normally as long as she eats brains from the morgue regularly). Some other zombies have neutrally integrated into society by hiding their secret, like the police chief. But still others are villains who murder people for their brains and sell those brains at a high cost to other closeted zombies. And even desecrating the brains of a dead person, as Liv does out of necessity, would be controversial if the public knew about it. Since "iZombie" isn't as grim as "The Walking Dead," I think a happy ending of Liv getting cured and returning to fully human life is a possibility, particularly since the search for a cure is part of the mission of Liv's boss, Dr. Ravi. More likely, though, "iZombie" will end with a grace note of Liv being OK with being a zombie, which stands as a metaphor for any troubling adjustment in life.
What are your predictions of the end games for current popular shows? Will Bruce become Batman? Will Norman go full-on psycho? Will the plagues of "The Walking Dead" or "iZombie" get a cure? Share your thoughts below.
Bates Motel/PsychoTelevisionWalking Dead, TheBatmanTue, 28 Apr 2015 16:00:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2015/4/28/For-current-popular-TV-shows-whats-the-end-game‘Hannibal,’ ‘Walking Dead,’ ‘Bates Motel’ provide 1-2-3 TV horror punchhttp://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2014/3/17/Hannibal-Walking-Dead-Bates-Motel-provide-123-TV-horror-punch
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//lizzie-walking-dead.jpg">
I have a friend, Shaune, who's a big horror movie fan, but he has found the current character stuff on "The Walking Dead" rather boring. This is understandable: Television has never been able to be as flat-out scary as movies. There's something about a dark theater, big screen and big sound. Plus, weirdly, the fact that characters are more secondary (and disposable) in movies than on TV helps the scare factor. When watching an "X-Files" monster-of-the-week, for example, you don't have to worry that Mulder or Scully will be killed off. When watching a horror movie, everyone's expendable.
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That having been said, horror TV shows can work very well – but for different reasons. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2243973/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">"Hannibal"</a> (Fridays on NBC), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1520211/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">"The Walking Dead"</a> (Sundays on AMC) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2188671/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">"Bates Motel"</a> (Mondays on A&E) make a delicious 1-2-3 punch for "horror TV" fans – or, to put in more accurately, fans of down-and-dirty character shows. These programs won't make you jump off your couch or give you nightmares, but they do fascinatingly probe the dim recesses of the human psyche. Another connection is that all three are based on other source material – books ("Hannibal" and "Bates Motel") and comic books ("The Walking Dead"). While the "Hannibal" and "Bates" franchises became movies, it's relevant to note that they didn't originate there.
All three of these shows set up not-quite-normal worlds that are perfect for exploring the darker sides of human nature. Most notable is "The Walking Dead," set in an anarchic zombie apocalypse. The story of Lizzie – who doesn't grasp the value of human life or the difference between being alive and dead -- would be one of those tragic "no easy answers" stories in the real world. We'd lock her away in an asylum and tell ourselves she's being treated humanely, at least. And it'd be the right decision, because, as Carol observes, "She can't be around other people." In a zombie apocalypse, where there are no asylums, the only solution is to shoot her in the back of the head "Of Mice and Men" style. I think that's why we saw a bunch of weeping guests on "Talking Dead" – it wasn't just the tragedy of Mika's and Lizzie's deaths, it was the knowledge that executing Lizzie was the right and moral thing for Carol to do.
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//norman-bates-motel.jpg">
The world of "Bates Motel" is the exact opposite of "Dead's" – it's not the lack of institutions, but rather institutions themselves that cause chaos for Norma Bates as she attempts to run a motel in a small Oregon town. Most prominently, Norma bought a motel on a highway that is soon going to be bypassed, so she seems destined to take a fiscal bath. But also, Oregon's (and the federal government's) war on marijuana leads to the violence that serves as the backdrop of White Pine Bay, which is thriving thanks to the delicate "look the other way" balance overseen by the sheriff. Norman's high school crush Bradley kills the drug kingpin who killed her dad, then Norman and brother Dylan (who works for the pot growers) help her flee town. But I think it's safe to say that Bradley, Norman, Dylan and Norma are far from done with their "drug problem."
(I wonder if the producers breathed a huge sigh of relief last year that they didn't set their show in Washington state, which legalized and regulated marijuana after "Bates Motel" started production. If Oregon were to follow suit, the show would have little choice but to work that into the plotline – which, truth be told, could be quite fascinating.)
Additionally, Norman is mentally unstable. (He'd have suffered Lizzie's fate by now if he lived in a zombie apocalypse.) We viewers know he killed his father and his teacher during "blackouts," where he can't remember what he did after the fact. While the abusive Mr. Bates had it coming, Miss Watson didn't, so "Bates Motel" is now walking a delicate line where its main character is a hormonally imbalanced murderer. He is quite sympathetic, though, thanks largely to the performance of Freddie Highmore.
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//hannibal1.jpg">
"Hannibal" does "Bates Motel" one better: Its title character kills and eats people, and blames it on his "friend" Will (who is wrongly on trial for murder this season) – and unlike Norman or Lizzie, Hannibal is well aware of everything he's doing. Deliciously played by Mads Mikkelsen, Hannibal is a villain we love to hate (and hate to love). I'm rooting for Will and against Hannibal. Yet there's no denying that it's compelling to see how far Hannibal can insinuate himself into law enforcement (he's taken over Will's position as an FBI crime consultant) while spending his free time killing, preparing and eating people – and also serving them to his FBI colleagues with artistic flair in his dining room.
While "Dead" and "Bates" have character arcs and plot lines, "Hannibal" tiptoes the fine line of style. Last season, we'd see Hannibal serving a delicious-looking meal and wonder if it was human rather than beef or pork. Now, we actually see him cutting up a human calf with a bandsaw, then proceeding to prepare leg-of-human for himself. Because he always adds in delicious vegetables and a carefully selected wine, a viewer can't deny that Hannibal is – as my friend Seth says -- a baller in the kitchen. He is also efficient, with the way he packs and freezes the rest of the leg for future meals. With all of its culinary scenes, "Hannibal" often makes me hungry while watching it; it's a great show to watch over a box of Sour Patch Kids and a bowl of popcorn.
Executive producer Bryan Fuller is a proven genius – see "Dead Like Me" and "Wonderfalls" – but, my, what a delicate path "Hannibal" walks. There's hardly any plot to it – in fact, the season's opening prologue showed us that Hannibal will kill Laurence Fishburne's Jack Crawford later in the narrative -- and it's always in danger of going from the most disturbing show on TV to the most silly. It also faces the "Prison Break" problem: Once the prisoners escaped, the show would be over; because the show was popular, the escape plot was padded out, and it became a worse show. "Hannibal" seems like it would do well to have Hannibal be found out (currently, at least four characters are highly suspicious of Hannibal), and Will cleared of all charges, at the end of this season. But that also means the show will be over.
"Bates Motel" and especially "The Walking Dead" have kept their narratives fresh even though they are also shows with end goals. In "Bates," it's getting Norman to the point he's at in "Psycho"; in "The Walking Dead," it's finding a cure to the outbreak. I think the goal should always be good TV, even if means a popular show like "Hannibal" comes to a natural end. I would recommend that NBC immediately signs Fuller to launch another show, then hypes it up as the next project from the man behind "Hannibal." Indeed, FX's "American Horror Story" uses the format of keeping the same crew (and even some of the same cast) but making a new show every year. Interestingly, the first and second seasons of "AHS" (I haven't tuned in since) floundered, in my opinion, because it put an emphasis on weirdness and scares over characters.
"The Walking Dead," "Bates Motel" and "Hannibal" are all character-driven shows, and that's the best way for horror to work on TV.
HannibalBates Motel/PsychoTelevisionWalking Dead, TheMon, 17 Mar 2014 17:19:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2014/3/17/Hannibal-Walking-Dead-Bates-Motel-provide-123-TV-horror-punchFirst episode impressions: ‘Bates Motel’http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2013/3/20/First-episode-impressions-Bates-Motel
<img src="http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/images//bates-motel.jpg">
I've never been high on the idea of reboots, but <a href="http://www.aetv.com/bates-motel/" target="_blank">"Bates Motel"</a> (9 p.m. Central Mondays on A&E) makes a strong case that they shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. This reboot/prequel to the "Psycho" franchise takes place in present day and therefore won't necessarily match up with the events of the 1960 Hitchcock classic, yet I can see why executive producer Carlton Cuse ("Lost") is tapping into the Norman Bates mythology. While "Bates Motel" doesn't strictly relate to any of the previous four movies, three books or one TV pilot (also called "Bates Motel," back in 1987 for NBC), a viewer's knowledge of the character seeps into every scene.
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From his initial portrayal by Anthony Perkins, Norman Bates has been unambiguously psychotic. Almost all of the saga's spinoff material has sought to answer how he turned out that way, as if each subsequent entry was a character analysis more so than a sequel. "Bates Motel" might end up doing the best job of any of them. Played by Freddie Highmore, Norman is a quiet, introspective -- but mostly normal -- 17-year-old. Still, we can see why he might turn out not-quite-right in the head. For one thing, consider the small California town that he and his (notably young and attractive) mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), move to: It's jam-packed with attractive young women who take an immediate liking to Norman.
Four cute girls tell him it's cool that his mom bought the old motel, give him a ride to school and invite him to a party. Another cute girl at the party tells him she likes quiet types (the scene could be straight out of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," seeing as how Highmore looks exactly like Logan Lerman). Norman's super-hot language arts teacher tells him she'll be there if he needs anything and encourages him to try out for the track team. Even the girl with cystic fibrosis and an oxygen tank -- a fellow wallflower who could become Norman's friend -- is unrealistically good looking.
Seen from a long lens, Norman doesn't have a terrible lot in life. But as a teenager with hormones, it's gotta wreak havoc with his brain when every woman he encounters is also clearly a sexual object. I know most Hollywood actresses are going to be good-looking regardless of the show's intent, but it's purposeful in "Bates Motel." Compounding Norman's confusion, Norma -- although Farmiga plays things nicely close to the vest -- is clearly jealous of all of these other women in her son's life. Oh, and then Norman finds a booklet of sexualized drawings underneath the carpet in one of the motel rooms.
"Bates Motel" gets the blend of weird, creepy, mesmerizing, off-kilter tones exactly right; the chemistry between Highmore and Farmiga certainly helps. The most similar show on TV at the moment is "American Horror Story," and this show is vastly superior. Whereas "AHS" bluntly throws its weirdness in your face, not allowing you time to absorb it, "Bates Motel" is more leisurely and, indeed, Hitchcockian.
It has its share of horror and dark comedy: The pilot episode features a rape scene, a violent borderline-self-defense killing and a tense sequence where the cops (one of whom is "Lost" veteran Nestor Carbonell) almost discover the corpse in the bathtub. But ultimately, it's about Norman and the way he can't reconcile the women in his life, and their various (real or perceived) demands on him, with his complex feelings. Few other shows are able to pull off such a delicate portrayal; indeed, "American Horror Story" wouldn't know where to begin if tasked with such a thing.
I haven't totally bought into the Highmore hype, but I suspect he could end up doing some amazing acting as the series -- which will add Norman's older brother to the mix next week -- moves forward. If it cribs from "Psycho IV: The Beginning" (1990), which told of Norman's early life through flashbacks, I can't complain too much because I don't remember the details of that film (although I recall liking it). If it does something entirely different, that might be cool too; I don't expect this to be a faithful retelling of that prequel.
As much as the DNA of the four "Psycho" films informs Norman Bates' character, so does the modern setting -- and every ringing of a smartphone reminds us that "Bates Motel" can end up being something new, exciting and unexpected.
Bates Motel/PsychoTelevisionWed, 20 Mar 2013 02:45:00 -0700http://www.johnvhansen.com/jvh/blog/index.cfm/2013/3/20/First-episode-impressions-Bates-Motel